Every lover of Soviet cinema will surely recollect several scenes from his beloved old films, which featured a large bottle with muddy liquid - the first moonshine. Its presence on the table, surrounded by appetizers rich in “harmful” calories — sausage rings, pickles, of course, bacon and fresh herbs — causes an appetite attack even in burnt aesthetes.
Many moonshiners on the Internet in the forums are wondering how to give moonshine such a slight turbidity so that it is “like in a movie”. Cleaning moonshine with milk is one way to achieve the desired representative effect.
Why moonshine is muddy
In general, the turbidity of moonshine, which was driven in the villages in the old days, was explained by the imperfection of technology. Few modern moonshine lovers know and remember the way the mash is distilled "into the dark." How alcohol was obtained in this way is shown in the figure.
How did it work? A ready-made mash was poured into a sufficiently large container. A brick lay on the middle of the bottom, on which a smaller container was located - this is for finished moonshine. The whole thing was covered with a large copper basin with a rounded bottom filled with ice water. Pairs of boiled mash rose, condensed on the cold surface of the pelvis and dripped in drops into a container standing on a brick.
But during the distillation, the surface of the boiling mash bubbles up, and the foam in certain quantities inevitably falls into the container with the finished product, which makes moonshine muddy. The presence of mash greatly spoils the taste of the drink, so even at the dawn of moonshine the question arose about improving it.
One of the ways was the cleaning of moonshine with milk. At home, the Russian village was an affordable and easy way out.
What is the need for cleaning moonshine
However, the need to clean the moonshine is associated not only with the presence of mash components in it. By the way, in normal moonshine stills, especially with a reflux condenser and (or) a steamer, getting foam into the finished product is almost impossible.
The fact is that alcohol in Braga is formed as a result of the vital activity of yeast. But yeast, unfortunately, together with ethyl alcohol produce a meager amount of methanol, which is vital to remove from moonshine. Also, together with methanol, volatile fusel oils are released at the very beginning of distillation, giving the drink the famous moonshine "bad" fusel odor. At the end of the process, heavy fusel oils begin to evaporate and get into the moonshine, which also worsen the quality.
Part of the problem is solved by crushing (cutting off the first 50 grams for every 3 liters of mash and stopping the distillation at a temperature of 85-87 ° C). But for a complete cleaning of home alcohol and the final disposal of an unpleasant fusel shower, additional filtration is necessary. Purification of moonshine with milk is still popular among moonshiners, especially in the countryside.
The cleaning principle is based on the presence of albumin and casein in cow's milk. It is believed that these substances react with fusel oils, forming a solid precipitate that can be easily removed with any filter.
The first way to clean moonshine with milk "like in the movies"
In order for the cleaning process to be effective, moonshine must have a strength of about 50%. To process 5 liters of drink, you will need about 100 ml of pasteurized cow's milk. Cleaning moonshine with milk at home can give moonshine the same muddy tint, as in old films. For this, milk should be taken with an average fat content of 2.5 to 3.5%, but not cream. The liquid will acquire a whitish tint due to the fat contained in cow's milk. The taste of the drink will not be affected. If the drink should be crystal clear, it is better to use skim milk, it will be easier to subsequently filter to a “tear”.
Milk is poured into a container with moonshine. The jar should not be filled to the very top, since the mixture will subsequently need to be shaken well, a couple of times daily for a week. The mixture should stand in a place protected from solar ultraviolet radiation.
After 7-10 days, the purification of moonshine with milk ends with filtration. If moonshine should have a cloudy tint, it is filtered through several layers of gauze. Using a charcoal filter (an ordinary jug filter with a simple cartridge) will result in a crystal clear product.
Distillation method
Better remove from moonshine spoiling the taste and smell of the drink sivuha using secondary distillation. The algorithm of actions with this method of cleaning moonshine with milk is the same as in the previous case. The difference is that instead of fine filtration, distillation is done.
After the mixture has stood for a week in a darkened place, the sediment flakes that have fallen to the bottom of the cake are filtered off on several layers of gauze or on a piece of loose synthetic fabric. After such rough cleaning, the moonshine is bred to 20-30% of the fortress and poured into the moonshine still.
Such cleaning of moonshine after milk allows you to get the purest product without a hint of an unpleasant smell or taste of fusel oils. Distillation is again carried out fractionally, with the separation of the “heads” and “tails”.
How effective is it
However, there are enough critics of the method of cleaning moonshine with milk. The usefulness of the method is rightly called into question. Some moonshiners who experimented with this method claim that milk cleaning alone does not give anything, and the actual disposal of fusel oils occurs during subsequent operations. In the first method, this is fine filtration on a charcoal filter, in the second, secondary distillation. By themselves, these methods have long been successfully used by lovers of homemade drinks and a hundredfold have proven their effectiveness.
The logic is simple. If you do not use either fine filtration or re-distillation, moonshine after cleaning with milk retains unpleasant odors. But if you pass the alcohol through a good filter or distill it again (and it is better to dilute it to 25-30%, filter it and then distill it), then the drink will be perfectly cleaned without any grandfathering methods.
However, how many specialists, so many opinions. And is it worth it to apply the purification of moonshine with milk, the benefits and harms of this method for their home production, each moonshiner decides for himself.
So that it was “like a movie” - other recipes
By the way, there are other ways to give moonshine an off-white whitish hue. To do this, the drink does not have to be made on a poor machine and smell like sivuha.
Here is one of the options. It is necessary to dissolve a teaspoon of propolis in a glass of pure edible alcohol of 96.6%. After dissolution, the mixture will turn the color of a good strong tea. If you add a tablespoon of the obtained tincture of propolis to 0.5 liters of 40% moonshine, the mixture immediately acquires the same unclear appearance. There is no smell of fusel oils or an unpleasant aftertaste.
On the contrary, a light honey aroma will not only turn ordinary moonshine into a great aperitif, but will also make it a wonderful remedy for colds and sore throats (in moderation). True, with such a drink should be careful for people with intolerance to bee venom.